Grace’s Mission & Vision

 As believers live under the influence of the Holy Spirit and what Christ has purchased for us and continues to do in us, He changes us from the inside out. The Gospel frees us to genuinely love people, even people who are quite different from us, people we wouldn't naturally befriend. This is because the Gospel is not merely a message about personal forgiveness and peace with God; it is a message of rebirth that transforms our lives and actions. We want to be a church that is centered on Christ Jesus and reliant upon the whole Word of God.  The church in Ephesus was a church with programs an good works. Yet, they were warned, "You have left your first love." Our mission is to always glorify the Lord as our first love.   

Statement of Faith  
We believe that the Bible is the written word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit and without error in the original manuscripts. The Bible is the revelation of God’s truth and is infallible and authoritative in all matters of faith and practice. We believe in the Holy Trinity. There is one God, who exists eternally in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We believe that all are sinners and totally unable to save themselves from God’s judgment, except by His grace. We believe that salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ. God’s grace is not based on any human individual merit, or work. We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, who through His perfect life and sacrificial death atoned for the sins of all who will trust in Him alone for salvation. We believe that God is gracious and faithful to His people not simply as individuals but as families in successive generations according to His covenant promises. We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells God’s people and gives them the strength and wisdom to trust Christ and obey Him. We believe that Jesus will return, bodily and visibly, to judge all mankind and to receive His people to Himself. We believe that all aspects of our lives are to be lived to the glory of God under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
What kind of Christian church are we? 

We are undenominational.  Jesus transcends all the labels that men pin on one another. He did not endorse anyone else’s religious agenda, because He is the only Way to the Father and He draws us to repent (John 6:44).  GBC takes the entire Bible as truth, even when it makes us uncomfortable; we are convicted that the Bible is the very inerrant Word of God, breathed out, inspired, by His Holy Spirit - our final authority for faith and practice.   
Grace’s Worship Characteristics  
1) Biblical -- We expound the Scripture in our services. We believe that our worship must be regulated by the general and specific commands of Scripture, not by human traditions.   Psalm 19

2) Historical and Relevant -- Traditional worship is frozen in time, copying an earlier model, stuck in another century. Contemporary worship is frozen in the present, mimicking the pop culture of the last few decades. A church that draws from each century since Christ would be a 2000-year-old church. We desire to be a 2000-year-old church from day one, recognizing that we are shaped by the past but must communicate in the present. 

3) Participatory -- We take time for silent prayer, singing, Scripture reading, and sharing praises. 

4) Gospel-saturated -- Our worship format strives to plainly proclaim the Gospel throughout the service. If you walk away with the impression that the answer is that you need to make yourself a better person, we have failed, for our desire is to point you to Jesus only. 

5) Reverent & celebratory -- The tone in our services is both serious and joyful, because, as He declares in Hebrews 12:18-24, we have come into the presence of God himself. 

6) Understandable -- We try to explain any special vocabulary and "keep the cookies on the bottom shelf where even the little ones can reach". 

7) Open to all -- All people of all ages are welcome. We do not ask families to remove their children from the services.

8) Excellence -- We pursue excellence in all that we do with the graces that He provides. 

9) Worship, not Performance -- Anyone in front, whether musician or elder, is only aiding the congregation to worship. The church family is not a passive audience, watching the experts worship, but personally immersed in worshiping Almighty God, being led by those He calls. 

10) Lord’s Supper -- We celebrate communion multiple times each year, but not so often as to diminish its sobering importance, believing that the Lord’s Supper is a means of grace and aids in our sanctification.